Incredible vessels
I photographed two of the vessels in Ostend harbour currently deployed to work on the Seastar and Mermaid wind farms located in Belgian waters approximately 40-50 km off the coast of Ostend, in 22 to 38-metre deep water.
The two windfarm projects will have a combined capacity of 487 MW. The wind turbines are 109 metres in height and have a rotor diameter of 167 metres. The plan is to install 58 turbines to power around 500,000 households. Once completed, the project should offset 700,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
The Vole au Vent on the left is an offshore jack up installation vessel built in 2013 in Gdansk, Poland. She sails sailing under the flag of Luxembourg.
The impressive crane of offshore jack-up installation vessel enables safe installation of the heavy foundations and components of offshore wind farms. The ship is equipped with legs to lift itself above the sea level to provide a stable platform that is unaffected by the waves.
The Apollo first arrived in June 2020 at the REBO terminal in Ostend. It is a jack-up vessel designed to incorporate tools for the installation of turbines on windfarms in high winds of up to 15m/sec. Most vessels of this type only allow installation up to winds reaching 10-12m/sec. This capability gives the Apollo a significant advantage on the North Sea. The leg length of the Apollo is extendable to 106.8m.
Incredible vessels
I photographed two of the vessels in Ostend harbour currently deployed to work on the Seastar and Mermaid wind farms located in Belgian waters approximately 40-50 km off the coast of Ostend, in 22 to 38-metre deep water.
The two windfarm projects will have a combined capacity of 487 MW. The wind turbines are 109 metres in height and have a rotor diameter of 167 metres. The plan is to install 58 turbines to power around 500,000 households. Once completed, the project should offset 700,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
The Vole au Vent on the left is an offshore jack up installation vessel built in 2013 in Gdansk, Poland. She sails sailing under the flag of Luxembourg.
The impressive crane of offshore jack-up installation vessel enables safe installation of the heavy foundations and components of offshore wind farms. The ship is equipped with legs to lift itself above the sea level to provide a stable platform that is unaffected by the waves.
The Apollo first arrived in June 2020 at the REBO terminal in Ostend. It is a jack-up vessel designed to incorporate tools for the installation of turbines on windfarms in high winds of up to 15m/sec. Most vessels of this type only allow installation up to winds reaching 10-12m/sec. This capability gives the Apollo a significant advantage on the North Sea. The leg length of the Apollo is extendable to 106.8m.